Guernica didn't make Rosse wait long. He had said an hour, but came back in just twenty minutes.
The information Rosse wanted was already archived by the World Government. Rosse figured the only time-consuming part was reporting to the Five Elders, his grandfather, while the rest was just picking up files.
"Saint Rosse, here is the list you asked for."
Taking the roster from Guernica's hands, Rosse first picked up the one from Impel Down.
The Celestial Dragons had always had a habit of fishing slaves from Impel Down. He'd done this several times before.
But in the past, he was looking for toys; this time, he needed tools.
He quickly skipped through the earlier levels, merely pointing at a few names from each layer for Guernica to grab as slaves for himself.
These were his initial capital to build on, just the right moment to see how much experience pirates of various levels could give him.
As he flipped further, Rosse's attention was soon drawn to the list from the final level.
Besides expendable resources, he also needed capable tools.
Pirates were never about solo fighting. The world was vast and boundless. Even if he became the King of the World, he alone couldn't manage such a huge place.
"Golden Lion, Byrnndi World, Douglas Bullet..."
Rosse looked at these names, his eyebrows slightly raised.
This list did contain quite a few surprises.
Even twenty years before the story began, Impel Down had already housed many talented individuals.
In a few more years, the number of people on this list would grow even more.
With just a glance, Rosse put the list down.
A look was enough for now, he didn't plan to take anyone yet.
The prisoners in the final level of Impel Down were indeed strong, but none were easy to deal with. There were plenty who dared to kill Celestial Dragons.
Without strength to protect himself, summoning them would be dangerous.
He would wait until his power had grown; then subduing them would be much easier.
Rosse picked up the Navy list beside him and started reading it more carefully.
Always self-aware, he had planned from the beginning to poach people from the Navy first.
Compared to the freedom-loving pirates, the Navy, with their justice and order, was undoubtedly a better choice.
Whether it was degenerated justice or absolute justice, Navy members at least followed rules, making them easier to recruit and more likely to work with him.
Skipping a pile of drool-worthy names like Sakazuki, Kuzan, Tsuru, Garp, and others, Rosse's gaze soon stopped at the bottom of the list.
[Navy Elite Training Camp Graduation Roster]
[Gion, Tokikake, Onigumo...]
'These few... seem to have great potential in the future. As future main forces, they seem pretty good. And since they just graduated, their moldability should be strong.'
Rosse rubbed his chin, pondering.
''Momousagi' Gion and 'Chaton' Tokikake will both be Admiral candidates in the future. Their strength may not reach S-rank, but at the very least, they'll be A-rank.'
'Onigumo will later become an elite Vice Admiral; his strength should be at least B+, which is already better than Guernica.'
In just a moment, Rosse had a plan in mind.
"Guernica, contact the higher-ups. Tell them my current slaves are too weak. Either fetch me a few from Level 6 of Impel Down or assign me an Admiral as a personal bodyguard," Rosse said boldly, with an undeniable tone.
"Ah? This... understood!"
Seeing Guernica stunned for a while before reluctantly responding, Rosse could only shake his head internally.
'Heh, still too young. Clearly hasn't seen enough Celestial Dragons.'
If he only asked for a few newbies from the list, Saturn would probably think he'd been replaced.
Other Celestial Dragons would definitely mock him for growing more cowardly with age.
Celestial Dragons ordering Admirals around, now that's standard procedure.
To avoid these troubles, he had to speak in the tone of a proper Celestial Dragon.
That's also why the World Government spent 800 years constantly elevating the status of the Celestial Dragons, to give them that kind of confidence.
The last person who dared provoke a Celestial Dragon was Rocks, once the strongest on the seas for nearly a hundred years. By now, the grass on his grave must be several meters tall.
Before Luffy set sail, the Celestial Dragons' rule was solid as a rock, no one dared challenge them.
"What kind of posture is that? Don't just stand there dazed," Seeing Guernica still dragging his feet, Rosse frowned.
'It's just passing a message to my own grandfather. Why dawdle so much?'
Rosse was already considering replacing Guernica.
As expected, people not trained by himself just had that slight difference.
"Ah! Yes! Saint Rosse, I'll go take care of it right away!", Guernica hurriedly replied, not daring to hesitate anymore.
'Today is my first day on duty handling Celestial Dragon affairs. I expected difficulties, but not this level of difficulty.'
'Negotiating with the higher-ups to extract Level 6 prisoners from Impel Down as slaves, or assigning an Admiral to serve as Saint Rosse's bodyguard, these are impossible tasks.'
'If I fail, Saint Rosse will surely kill him.'
'This is my first official day as a CP0 agent. Please, no...'
His mind in chaos, Guernica dialed the Navy Headquarters Fleet Admiral's Den Den Mushi.
During training, he had been given the contact info of all Navy department heads for future missions.
At least in the eyes of the World Government, CP0 outranked the Navy.
———
[Navy Headquarters, Marineford, Highest-level Conference Room]
At the moment, the conference room was in the middle of discussing the feasibility of the Buster Call, but the sudden Den Den Mushi interrupted the session.
Fleet Admiral Kong, a burly middle-aged man with a Mohawk, immediately wiped the discontent from his face upon learning it was a call from CP0's special line, replacing it with a warm smile.
He gave his subordinates a look, signaling that the call was from the World Government, then decisively answered the Den Den Mushi.
Kong assumed the call was mostly about the Buster Call, so there was no need to hide it from the others.
"Moshi Moshi, this is Navy Headquarters. I am Fleet Admiral Kong!"
The Navy's high-ranking officers present all reacted differently upon seeing Kong's unusual expression.
Admiral Sengoku and Vice Admiral Tsuru frowned slightly, seemingly displeased. The Navy Hero Garp nonchalantly munched on donuts, acting as if neither the meeting nor the call concerned him.
Vice Admiral Sakazuki glanced at Kong, then quickly looked away, focusing on the documents regarding the Buster Call on the table.
Vice Admiral Borsalino was polishing his nails, seemingly careless. But he did sit a bit straighter, showing interest in the call's content.
Vice Admiral Kuzan's face was grim, unclear whether it was due to the mission against Ohara or the unexpected call.
After Kong finished speaking, a cold voice came from the Den Den Mushi, ["This is World Government CP0. At the request of Saint Rosse, Admiral Sengoku is hereby ordered to serve as His Highness's personal bodyguard!"]
The moment those words landed, everyone at Navy Headquarters changed expressions. Even Rosse glanced at Guernica with visible irritation.
'Good grief, turns out you're not just bold. You're actually stupid!'
'Damn it, can't even read between the lines and still managed to join CP0?'
'With just one sentence, you've offended the entire Navy for me. You're a real expert, huh.'
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y